Improving
Financial Resilience

Applications closed 7th February, 2016.

The Problem

In many Pacific Island communities the drivers of the economy - tourism, agriculture, forestry and fishing - are significantly harmed by disasters. Across the region, there is a lack of capital to fund recovery whether through household savings, insurance or government assistance. As a result, economic impacts are severe and long lasting. The lack of access to available funding sources and the lack of risk diversification instruments reduce the financial resilience of Pacific Island communities. Climate change is exacerbating this as severe weather events are forecasted to increase in frequency and intensity.

The Challenge

In this new era of innovative tools such as fintech, crowdfunding and weather derivatives, how can we create products and mechanisms to build the financial resilience of hazard-prone communities and businesses and their supply chains? What are targeted solutions that could support, immediate financial need, early recovery and longer term reconstruction, and incentivise the financing of risk management, including risk reduction? This challenge seeks to identify either pre-existing solutions outside the Pacific Region and/or prototype new approaches to building the financial resilience of communities and businesses to disasters in a changing climate.

Examples

Tools and applications to incentivise or enable small and medium sized enterprises to better prepare for business disruption and reduce losses from disaster events.

Novel financial products suitable for business that will build financial resilience to a broad range of shocks or stressors.

Products applications to connect affected communities and businesses to alternative sources of financial support following a disaster event.